Two years after the murderous collapse of the Genoa bridge, the authorities inaugurate the new building on Monday. Built in record time, it is particularly under scrutiny after the tragedy which claimed the lives of 43 people.

Two years ago, almost to the day, the collapse of a bridge in Genoa killed 43 people. On Monday, Italy will inaugurate the city's new bridge with great fanfare. A celebration that will take place in the presence of the Giuseppe Conte government but without the families of the victims, who refused to participate in the event. 

Officials but no relatives of the victims

"Tomorrow, I will be in Genoa for the inauguration of the new bridge: from a wound that will hardly heal to the symbol of a new Italy which is recovering. An important day which tells about the present and the future of a country which is changing" , announced Giuseppe Conte on his Facebook account on Sunday. The last section, about 1 km long, was laid at the end of April and since the finishing works and safety tests have followed one another.

In addition to Giuseppe Conte, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella will be present at the inauguration which is however threatened by a weather alert, heavy rains being expected during the day on Monday in Liguria, the region of Genoa. The families of the victims refused to participate in this event and will meet again ten days later to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy.

A legal battle still ongoing

On August 14, 2018, in heavy rain, the Morandi motorway bridge, named after the engineer who designed it, collapsed and caused dozens of vehicles to fall, on the way to vacation or work. . Since then, Italy, renowned as a champion of slowness in the execution of public works, has worked hard to build the new 1,067-meter-long viaduct, designed by the architect from Genoa Renzo Piano. The bridge finally received its test certificate, as specified by the Italian chain TGCOM24.

Ponte di Genova, rilasciato il certificato di collaudo #PonteGenovahttps: //t.co/SLOpUVzIpspic.twitter.com/edrhZ4xHcX

- Tgcom24 (@ MediasetTgcom24) August 2, 2020

The collapse of the Morandi Bridge, located on the route of the motorway linking Italy and France, gave rise to a bitter legal battle, still ongoing. Many people and companies are on the dock, but the finger is pointed especially at the company Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), manager of this road viaduct and whose main shareholder is the Benetton family through the company Atlantia. Following a standoff with the government that began the day after the fall of the bridge and with an investigation still underway but having highlighted serious shortcomings in the maintenance of the bridge, the Benetton family finally accepted it. two weeks ago to get off the Italian highways.